The Oologist. 



vol. XIX. NO. 5. 



ALBION, N. Y., MAY, 1902. 



Whole No. 1! 



The Oologist. 



A Monthly Publication Devoted to 



OOLOGY, ornithology and 



TAXIDERMY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and items of Interest to the 

 student of Birds, their Nests and Eggs, solicited 

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FNTEhED AT THE P. O. , ALBION, N. Y. AS SECOND-CuASS MATTER. 



The White-winged Scoter. 



ByC. C. Purdum, M D. 



During my ornithological ol serva- 

 tions, I have met these birds at many 

 points and in many kc'dities along the 

 coast, and I have been deeply interest- 



ed in their movements and habits. 

 During the winter of 1901 I spent some 

 time at Robinsons Hole, Maes. This is 

 the name of a channel of rapidly fl >w- 

 ing water between the islands of 

 Naushou and Pafqui; these two is'ands 

 being part of a chain which extends in 

 a general easterly and westerly direc- 

 tion, and separate the waters of Buz- 

 zards Bay from those ofVineyard Sound. 

 During the ebb and flow of the tides 

 the waters flow between these two 

 islands with fearful rapidity and the 

 difference between the watermark at 

 low and high water is great. This 

 great rise and fall of tide is in great 

 measure responsible for the develop- 

 ment of large beds of shell fish called 

 "muscles" by the natives. The food of 

 these mollusco depends upon the 

 amount of water passing, and conse- 

 quently in rapidly flowing bodies of 

 water they develop in large numbers. 

 Upon these the White-winged Scoter 

 {Oiedemia deglandi) subsists, and there- 

 fore all other things bung equal, the 

 larger the development of "muscle 

 beds," the larger number of Scoters in 

 the locality. During my stav at the 

 above locality I was asked by one of 

 the natives, "Why do these birds make 

 regular trips from the Sound to the 

 Bay and vice versaV The reason is 

 very apparent. Food supply governs 

 most of the actions of all birds, if we 

 leave the breeding habits, and even 

 then the question of food has great in- 

 fluence upon the nesting sites. Now as 

 it is ''low tide" in the Bay when it is 

 "high tide" in the Sound, and vice 

 versa, and the feeding grounds can of 

 course be utilized better at low water 

 than at high, the birds pass from the 

 beds of one locality to the other with 

 the change of tide, and of course are 



